An Interior Designer by trade and now a work at home mom, Anastasia stays busy with one free-spirited three year old girl, a little boy born November 2011, and one sweetheart husband. She loves photography, art, culinary experiments in her kitchen, being outdoors, and dancing to Russian folk music with her daughter while nobody is watching. Anastasia enjoys sharing her passion for family oriented, healthy and frugal green living. You can take a peek at her not-so-ordinary parenting at Eco-Babyz.

Third Trimester: Glucose Test Alternatives

Of all things odd and wrong about the medical establishment today, this one’s really hard for me to understand! Most women who have kids and who I know are pregnant absolutely hate the glucose test for gestational diabetes because of the flat, colored soda drink you have to gulp down. What is it made of anyway?

Preservatives and food colouring? Acidity control compound? Yuck! This is not food folks! Sure, many pregnant moms wouldn’t care, they probably eat a ton of mass produced garbage with similar additives every day (so do the kids). Me? Never in a million years. I haven’t had even a sip of soda in three years. I wish I knew what’s in this glucose drink with my first pregnancy.

So, never mind that this unhealthy absurdity is given to us and our fetuses. Take this – for the 1 hour test you can substitute this toxic drink with two slices of bread and one banana (50 grams of glucose). How do I know? I did the test last week. All I had to do is tell my midwife that I do not want to do the test and she said “You know what, you don’t have to drink that flat soda drink, here is a list of things you can bring with you and eat at the lab instead.” What? Why wasn’t I told this before? Why isn’t every woman told this, that she has a choice? This made me a little angry – especially at my last OB who knew I dislike all things ‘unnatural’ and never told me this information.

Moreover, no procedure can be forced on you and your unborn baby. You have the right to refuse anything. Though I do not recommend skipping the test if you are overweight or have a family history of diabetes/gestational diabetes, if you know you are healthy and eat a healthy diet – it’s your choice. It isn’t mandatory.

All this was news to me, so I just had to share! There is so little information about it online. Just ask your care provider and they should be able to tell you about the alternatives. I was given a handout for what I could eat and it includes combinations for the 3 hour GTT (100 grams of glucose), for the one hour I could just pick a combination of ingredients that equaled 50 grams of glucose. Here are the approximate glucose numbers for each item:

30 6 oz Grape juice

15 Slice of bread

30 cup of cereal

20 banana

12 cup of milk

30 two slices of bread

40 16 oz orange juice

40 8 oz apple juice

So for example, for the 1 hour test I could take half a banana with 8 oz of apple juice which equals 50 grams of glucose. I chose from whatever I had on hand and had the two slices of bread with a whole banana. This is what our lab has come up with, be sure to ask your care provider first though and don’t just show up at the lab with what I’ve told you! No pregnant mom should have to gulp down that toxic drink, I hope this is helpful!

Thank you so much, Anastasia! When i read this i thought that you are like my mind-twin:))) i completely agree with what you wrote and that every pregnant woman should have a choice and i never understood why doctors do not suggest the healthy alternative to this toxicity!!! Thank you so much for providing the list of healthy things!:) yey, now i can stop stressing and calmly do my test next week!

I hate how you blame your first OB for not overseeing this option to you yet did you ask? If you are so against eating certain things I would think you would be more proactive in finding out what you were consuming. If you don’t ask about stuff involving your body and your baby please don’t complain about it later. You are just as responsible as your ob. Don’t assume your doc can remember every little detail of every pt they have, they are human. My ob never offered me that drink, he gave me alternatives.

Nāked juice makes a drink called “Red Machine” that contains 50g sugar in one bottle. Phew! From fruit!!!

Rachel G. 01/29/2013 at 6:03 pm

My glucose drink I was sent home with and told to drink 30 min prior to my appointment contains brominated vegetable oil and artificial flavor and food coloring red 40. What??! I’m shocked that if simple food will work, why they hand you this junk to drink! I’m glad I found your website-I was looking for an natural alternative! Thank you for this information!!!!

Voula 01/27/2013 at 10:50 pm

Thank you for this article. I’ve since called my OBGYN since my glucose test is next week, and she did mention I can substitute it with orange juice. Orange juice??? Why would they make you drink that awful stuff when you can simply drink orange juice?? A maternity ultrasound technician actually mentioned she doesn’t recommend anyone coming in to do ultrasound after taking the glucose test because the baby’s sugar crash can last up to 3 days. That’s awful. Aside from the harmful ingredients you and the baby have to ingest unnecessarily. Again thanks. Didn’t realize the solution was that simple.

Josie, I didn’t have an OB but worked with a midwife and they were not surprised at my question, I guess at that particular birthing center it is common for moms to want alternatives to conventional procedures.

Josie Elefson 01/22/2013 at 7:08 pm

Thank you so much for this! I was looking for this exact info. I totally agree with you: the ingredients in the glucose drink are disgusting and definitely doesn’t do a baby-momma’s body and her baby good. I’m curious to know how your doctor responded to this request.

I did know there were some alternatives and asked for a “real food” alternative. I was told I could eat jellybeans instead. Still not what I wanted, but SO much better than that nasty stuff most women have to drink.

Thanks for the comment Luda! The fasting option is great too, which is what I would do if I was close to my midwife. Since I faint if I don’t have breakfast and it is a 45 minute drive for me I went with the other options Either way better than drinking that stuff!

Luda 09/10/2011 at 8:52 am

Im glad you posted this article, its amazing how much i searched on the internet and a lot of pregnant woman are clueless that there is other way to take the test not the only standard way that they offer you at the hospital. I did the fasting one and i was in and out, not waiting an hour for results.

Great article! This test didn’t seem right to me either. I just straight up told my doctor that I had a diabetes monitoring kit at home from when I was hypoglycemic in the beginning of my pregnancy. I told her I would poke my finger and chart my blood glucose for two days. Only eight tiny pokes later, I presented the findings that I didn’t have GD. Still, I would have rather drank grape juice. Here is to women telling drs. we are going to make our own best choices for our bodies!

Thanks for commenting Rachael and Erica! Yes, there are a lot of things I would rather eat!

I’ve watched The Business of Being Born a couple of years ago, actually just two months before I gave birth to my first. I remember after watching it I really wanted to change my birth plans but it was a little late. It’s certainly an eye opener!